More marriages, fewer divorces in 2004

There's good news on the state of the Singapore family.

There were fewer divorces while more Singaporeans got married last year.

The Department of Statistics says a total of 22,189 marriages were registered, an increase of about one per cent compared to 2003.

But the figure still pales in comparison to the 23,000 in the 1980s, and 24,800 in the early 1990s.

There were also more inter-ethnic marriages, especially among Muslims.

In 1994, inter-ethnic marriages made up 6.8% of non-Muslim marriages and 18% of Muslim marriages.

Last year, the proportion increased to 10% for non-Muslim and 25% for Muslim marriages.

But Singaporeans are getting married even later.

Two decades ago, men used to get hitched when they were about 28.5 years old and women, at 25.4 years old.

10 years ago, this increased to 30.6 for men, and 27.1 for women.

But last year, the mean age of Singapore grooms was 32.4 years and that of the brides was 28.6.

But greater age did not seem to help marriages.

There were fewer divorces - 6,388 last year compared to 6,561 in 2003.

Of these, men aged 35 to 44 years and women aged 25 to 34 years formed the biggest group.

Also vulnerable were younger couples aged 20 to 24.

This group had the highest divorce rate and saw the biggest increase than any other age groups over the last 10 years.

For non-Muslims, living apart for three years or longer was the most common reason for divorce last year.

Unreasonable behaviour was the next most common reason.

For Muslims, personality difference was cited as the main reason in 30% of the divorces.

Fidelity is believed to have broken up 19% of Muslim marriages. - CNA/ir

Channelnewsasia.com

Maybe now the government will axe the "Romancing Singapore: The Return" project.

Not one of their brighter ideas, really.